Back to School- Greek Yogurt Fruit Parfait

On any given summer morning you would just be blinking the sleep out of your eyes, peeling the covers off your cozy, ever-so-inviting bed, and smacking your mouth as you imagined enjoying a nice stack of banana pancakes for breakfast.

Unfortunately, it’s no longer summer. It’s September. Instead of lazing around the house in your slippers, you’re working on an AP Statistics quiz or laboring through your fifth packet of tedious paperwork, the countless pages blurring together in a coffee-deprived haze. Your boss comes in to have a quick word with you, tapping his foot impatiently- subconsciously signaling he doesn’t have much time. You shuffle through the plethora of documents on your desk, searching for the buyer’s order he’s requesting. The tapping grows louder with his impatience; a sweat breaks out on the back of your neck.

And then it happens.

The silence is broken. Just as you retrieve the document from the abyss of your desk and turn triumphantly in your chair: your stomach growls.

With an arched eyebrow and a stifled chuckle he takes the order and heads downstairs. You’re left to wallow in your embarrassment… and hunger.

Not eating a filling breakfast is a constant problem for me. You think I would have learned by now- after years and years of those mid-morning hunger cramps. Yet, my issue is that while I’m eating enough to satisfy me in the morning, such as the giant bowl of cereal I enjoyed this morning, my satiation only lasts so long.

Until halfway through my first class, to be precise.

I’ve discovered that the key to remaining full through the morning is protein. What is it about those specifically folded chains of amino-acids that keeps me satisfied far past 12 PM? I suspect it’s the complexity of the folding- after all it must take your body hours to fully break down the hydrogen bonds, intermolecular forces, and even covalent bonds present in each molecule. (Can you tell I had an AP bio test this week?)

I suppose you really are what you eat, and when what you eat (for breakfast, at least!) is protein- one thing you aren’t is hungry. (See what I did there? ;))

Regardless of the science behind it, this recipe has 20 grams of protein, which in “foodie’s terms” means you’ll be satisfied until lunch- and won’t experience that excruciating moment with your boss described above. Not to mention, this breakfast is straight up beautiful! Who wouldn’t want to start their morning with a taste of the rainbow?

And no, I’m not talking about Skittles.

Back to School- Greek Yogurt Fruit Parfait

3/4 c nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs agave, honey, or sweetener of choice (I used stevia)

1/4 c low fat granola

mixed berries (about 1/4 c)

Add Greek yogurt to a small bowl and combine with vanilla extract and sweetener of choice. Scoop half the yogurt into a glass or another bowl and top with half the berries and most of the granola. Top with remaining yogurt and berries, then sprinkle with extra granola. Enjoy!